Mack’s Mets – the premier site for information on the New York Mets talent pipeline and dialogue on Mets prospects, Mets news, and Mets opinions.
The Mets are home to play the Miami Marlins. It's the second game of a Day/Night double header and the four game series.
Tonight’s Game 2 Lineup: Jonathan Villar 2B; Brandon Nimmo CF; Pete Alonso 1B; Michael Conforto RF; Javier Baez SS; Jeff McNeil LF; J.D. Davis 3B; Patrick Mazeika C; Trevor Williams P;
The Syracuse Mets are on the road to play the Leigh High Valley IronPigs. It's game 1 of the 6 game series.
Tonight’s Lineup: Jose Peraza 2B; Mark Payton LF; Albert Almora jr. RF; Khalil Lee CF; David Thompson 3B; Travis Blankenhorn 1B; Wilfredo Tovar SS; Orlando Calixte 3B; Martin Cervenka C; Vance Worley P;
For the complete Mets Minor League statistics click here.
The Brooklyn Cyclones are home to take on the Wilmington Blue Rocks. It's game 1 of the 6 game series.
Tonight’s Lineup: Antoine Duplantis CF; Jaylen Palmer RF; Ronny Mauricio SS; Francisco Alvarez C; Jose Peroza 3B; Luke Ritter 1B; Luis Gonzalez 2B; Zach Ashford LF; Nic Gaddis DH; David Griffin P;
For the complete Mets Minor League statistics click here.
The St. Lucie Mets are on the road to play the Jupiter Hammerheads. It's game one of the six game series.
Tonight’s Lineup: Rowdey Jordan CF; Branden Fryman 2B; Kevin Kendall SS; Alex Ramirez DH; Justin Guerrera 3B; Jack-Thomas Wold DH; Warren Saunders 1B; Jose Colina C; Omar De Los Santos LF; Robert Colina P;
For the complete Mets Minor League statistics click here.
OF Virginia Tech
2021 - VT stat line - 51-G, 203-AB, .345/.415/.621/1.036, 11-HR, 48-K
Mack's spin -
I don't have a ton of ink to report on Cross yet this mock season, but who needs it. Cross is a legitimate hitter with gig league projection.
He is my current 7th outfielder,
8-24-21 - wjhl -
Former Tennessee High standout Gavin Cross went from a local hero to a national name after playing with the US College Team this summer.
The successful summer mixed with his progress at Virginia Tech in the spring helped the outfielder be named one of Baseball America’s Top 50 College Prospects for the 2022 MLB Draft Monday.
The former Viking came in at No.14 on the list with Cross finishing with a .431 average, 14 RBI’s and four homeruns this summer for the Stars and Stripes. These type of numbers shouldn’t come to a surprise after he hit .345, 11 homers and 35 RBI’s in the spring with the Hokies.
7-27-21 - Prospect Love Top 100 2022 Prospects -
26 Gavin Cross OF Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech isn't the kind of school you would expect to produce a potential first round talent, but it's hard to ignore what Gavin Cross brings to the table. He's been a menace at the top of the Hokies lineup throughout his career, ending 2020 with a .369 batting average and following that up with another big 2021 campaign. He uses all fields at the plate with big bat speed and has shown some good power to all fields as well. In the field, he's manned right field for a majority of the season for the Hokies, where he's shown off a plus arm. He could find himself as the first Virginia Tech player drafted in the first round since Joe Saunders went 12th overall in 2002.
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Click here for the full list of Mack's 2022 MLB Draft Scouting Reports.
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Stats:
BINGHAMTON, NY – Tuesday's series opener with the Richmond Flying Squirrels has been postponed to allow for additional testing and contract tracing of members of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies Organization. The Rumble Ponies are adhering to Minor League Baseball's health and safety protocols and will continue to practice caution and follow the guidance of medical experts. Further updates will be provided as available.
Information on WBNG Community Night will be released at a later date.
Remember to follow the Rumble Ponies on Facebook and Twitter for the most up to date team information @RumblePoniesBB
The Mets are home to play the Miami Marlins. It's the first game of a Day/Night double header and the four game series.
 |
| David Thompson - HR - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card |
At each Syracuse Mets home game, Photojournalist Herm Card takes some really amazing action shots.
Here are his shots from Sunday's 3-3 Syracuse tie including Travis Blankenhorn, David Thompson, Jerad Eickhoff, Mason Williams, David Rodriguez and Wilfredo Tovar.
Albert Almora - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
Travis Blankenhorn - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
Jerad Eickhoff - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
Jerad Eickhoff - Syracuse Mets - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
Mark Payton - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
David Rodriguez - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
Wilfredo Tovar - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card 
Mason Williams - 8/29/2021 - photo by Herm Card
It just might be because I’m getting old, but I can’t remember the last time I booed a Mets player.
I mean sure, I marched down to the Mets dugout in Washington and fired Jerry Manuel, but honestly, who hasn’t?
But, and I’m only speaking for myself, I’ve thought for a long time now that booing your own players should be limited to an obvious lack of effort, and embarrassing yourself and the franchise with an egregious act of stupidity off the field. That said, booing as an act of frustration at the end of ballgames after long losing streaks, for example? Hey, it happens. I’ve always thought that a lot of booing is just that. Frustration. I know a lot of booing that happened in seasons like 2020 were more directed at the Wilpon family and Brodie Van Wagenen. Heck, if people like that were made available to boo at, maybe while they’re sitting in a dunk tank, it would deflect a lot of booing from the players. If I could sit a Mets player past, present or future down and warn him of this, I would. Don’t take it personally.
But Javy Báez took it personally.
Uh oh.
I don’t expect Javy to understand the frustration of the Mets fan. He’s been here for a month while we’re here forever. We were here before him, and we’ll be here long after he leaves. I also don’t expect him to understand the New York fan base after playing his entire career in the city of Chicago. Chicago is a great sports town, but there’s a lot of “midwest polite” in Chicago. It’s not New York. New York is tough, sometimes unfairly so. But they’re honest. That’s why there was such frustration about Pete Alonso’s positivity after the Phillies series. While I thought Pete was coming from a genuine place with those comments, a lot of fans took it as Pete peeing on their leg and telling them it’s raining. I understand that completely.
Mets fans will love you forever if you produce. They’ll love you forever if you understand them. And they’ll love you forever if you’re a husky pitcher who hits a home run because you have too much pride to keep striking out while your helmet flies off. But Mets fans will also be honest with you. Maybe all Báez was doing was giving the fans a little honesty of his own. Was he right? Maybe. Are fans who think it is never acceptable to boo a player for striking out right? Probably. But it’s not about what I think or what you think or what Javy thinks things should be. It’s about the way it is. The way it is is that if you come across as being against the fans, then the fans are going to be against you ten times as hard. Javy should have realized that, and now he’s going to hear about it on Tuesday.
So, it used to be the roster was 25 players, expanding to 40 on September 1, which is tomorrow.
Unfair to hitters in recent decades...why? Well, in Seaver's day, there were 15 hitters and 10 pitchers, which changed to 13 hitters and 12 pitchers. Lots of talented hitters on the outside looking in because the teams kept fewer hitters on the 25 man.
Magnanimously, the mighty Lords of the MLB universe fairly recently extended the roster size to 26.
But the Lords giveth, the Lords taketh away, as Lords tend to do, so the old rule allowing rosters to expand up to 40? Well they cut that by TWELVE, from a max of 40 to 28.
A mere, stinking 2 player expansion come September 1. SMH.
I asked Rodney Dangerfield about it, just expanding by 2 players, and he said, "It's UNFAIR, I tell ya. No respect at all!"
Many guys who have gotten oh-so close to a major league call up for perhaps their one and only time? Well, nothing to tell the grandkids about their time in the majors - because the Lords disallowed it. They...never...made...it.
If it is the extra money to be paid out, which the Lords wanteth to keep, I have an idea for you...any September 1 call up who has never played in the majors before?
They get paid half the normal rate, and you up the number back up, to say 32 men. Still an awful lot more dough than they ever made in the minors.
You also work something out with the players, so that September call ups don't start a new guy's clock to free agency. So, if the Mets wanted to call up Francisco Alvarez, let's say, I'm sure he'd be thrilled, and would prefer that. Ronny Mauricio? Mark Vientos? Then, the following year, from March through August, the normal roster rules apply.
Great learning experience for them, too. Invaluable, in fact.
Family and friends, and fans, would see a more player-friendly group of Lords, whether they are Lords...of Flatbush... or somewhere else. You see, benevolent Lords are more appreciated than stingy ones.
Making it 32 instead of 28 would add 120 more guys to the 30 teams, many of whom would find it to be their only time in the bigs.
Billionaires wouldn't miss the money. Mere shekels. A mere bag o' shells, Jackie Gleason told me.
But heck, if they don't want to carry the extra cost, pay for it with something like a 25 cent surcharge on September tickets. I don't think fans would balk.
And, for the good of the goodwill of the game, more players would have more good stories to tell their friends and whoever might listen, about the game they so dearly love.
Whaddya think, folks?
Good Morning. Born today Claudell Washington. Happy Birthday to Pat Howell, and Hideo Nomo. Mets play two against the Marlins today, lots of takes on "Thumbs Down" and Wilmer Reyes is back with a rehab start in the FCL.
Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Minor League Links, This Day in Mets History and Comments.
Miami
Herald.com: The game was suspended in April. Marlins and Mets resume it Monday.
How will it work? The Marlins and New York Mets will pick up where they
left off on that April 11 afternoon when they begin a four-game series at Citi
Field with a doubleheader Tuesday. The first game is scheduled to start at 1:10
p.m. and will be the resumption of the suspended game from where it was halted
and will be a full nine innings.
Joel
Sherman NY Post: “Francisco Lindor – not Javy Baez – is the real Mets issue
“Baez
is an accidental tourist. He will be a Mets footnote. A guy who will really
learn what boos sound like at Citi Field when he shows up in his next team’s
uniform…if you are going to sign here like Winfield
or force your way here like A-Rod
and Stanton,
you have to know what awaits in bad times. Lindor
certainly had to know because Winfield, A-Rod, Stanton and many others came
before him. And he still took the 10-year, $341 million extension. Maybe it was
just too much to spurn despite doubts. But once you take it, there is that
devilish deal. Rightly or wrongly, it comes with the paycheck size.”
Mike
Puma NY Post: Mets fans have varied takes on players’ ‘thumbs-down’ message.
“Brian Sokoloff, a member of the 7 Line Army — the team’s most prominent fan
group — said when he heard about Baez’s comments, it felt like a middle finger
had been extended in his direction… ‘It’s
very sad that Lindor is involved in this because this is Year 1 of an 11-year
marriage, and it’s off to a very bad start, and I would like a divorce.
Frankly, it makes me wonder about the wisdom of giving this guy 10 years,
before you ever saw him play in a Met uniform. That is ridiculous.’”
Dennis
Young NY Daily News: Sandy Alderson somehow managed to out-clown the Mets’
players. “It’s worth very quickly noting here that while Alderson
vigorously threw his players under the bus, when his front office was reported
to be a den of sexual harassment, his response was: ‘People are getting
executed, including women, by the way, for reasons that are unjustifiable....Is
there ever a statute of limitations on coverage of some of this stuff?’”
Sarah
Valenzuela NY Daily News: Javier Baez’s thumbs vs. Mets fans just latest
contribution to chaotic season. “It wasn’t so much the thumbs down —
really, who cares, he didn’t insult anyone’s great ancestor — but his
explanation of why he did it. So aside from making a head-scratching decision
from a PR perspective, he unknowingly added more nonsense to an already bonkers
season. Only the Mets could create drama over a pair of thumbs.”
Newsday:
After thumbs-down episode, how will Citi Field fans react when Mets take the
field on Tuesday? “They will have to face their home fans — twice — on
Tuesday during a doubleheader against the Marlins, their first on-field action
since Javier Baez said that the recent thumbs-down celebrations from him,
Francisco Lindor and others was a form of booing their own fans, a surprising
revelation that drew a strong rebuke from team president Sandy Alderson.”
NY
Post: Francisco Lindor all smiles at US Open amid Mets’ ‘thumbs-down’ fiasco.
NY
Post: Ex-Mets deliver booing reality check: ‘What you sign up for’.
Metstradamus:
“I don’t expect Javy to understand the frustration of the Mets fan. He’s been
here for a month while we’re here forever. We were here before him, and we’ll
be here long after he leaves. I also don’t expect him to understand the New
York fan base after playing his entire career in the city of Chicago.”
NY
Post: Aaron Boone weighs in on Mets’ ‘thumbs-down’ controversy. “’ “I don’t think you ever like [the
fans] letting you have it or getting booed… But to get caught up and put a lot of energy into
worrying about that takes away from what you have to do as a professional…Ultimately,
you can’t let it take your eye off the ball.’”
How do the Mets move on from the thumbs down drama?@NYNJHarper and @DougWilliamsSNY on Shea Anything: https://t.co/wyBKa4uhMi
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 30, 2021
SUBSCRIBE ✅
Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/EWY7fn49vP
Spotify: https://t.co/2oXXz3t9i8
➡ @Verizon pic.twitter.com/UoO65ywz9p
On Baseball Night In New York, @Anthony_Recker responds to Javy Báez's comments on booing yesterday & @Jim_Duquette recalls a time when he & the Mets front office dealt with similar comments from Rey Ordoñez
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 31, 2021
➡️ @Cadillac https://t.co/sTG6jsF8oS pic.twitter.com/6o7OpF3juJ
Mets fans aren't booing the team... they're booing 35 years of everything going wrong for them while having to live, work, & play alongside fans of a team for whom everything goes right. They're booing 35 years of those fans & baseball media mocking them & calling them losers.
— TomHoefWrites (@TomHoefWrites) August 30, 2021
Rob Rogan of Mets360.com Tear it down, Mr.
Cohen. Rob actually wrote this on Saturday – before the “thumbs down” issue
talking about the Mets offense: “Power and patience; patience and power. The
apparent mantra of the Mets’ organizational hitting philosophy under Alderson
for the last ten years is to “wait for a good pitch to hit.” This is obviously
sound in theory, but it’s seemingly morphed into the perverse version fans have
been subjected to game in and game out in 2021. Hitters up and down the lineup
are consistently being beat by predictable pitch patterns while leaving the bat
on their shoulders when they do see those good pitches. They’re in the top ten
in the league in soft contact and in the bottom ten in hard contact. They’re in
the bottom half of baseball in BB% and third-worst in ISO. They swing a lot
(48.9% Swing%). They miss a lot (11.9% SwStr%). They strike out a lot (23.8%
K%). So much for power and patience, huh?” Subscription required.
John
Harper SNY.TV: Why Mets must gamble on Noah Syndergaard -- whether he pitches
in 2021 or not. “Without any blue-chip pitching prospects close to being
ready in their minor league system, the Mets are going to have to pay for pitching
one way or another if they want to contend for a championship next season…That
means gambling on Noah Syndergaard whether the Mets’ brass gets to see
him pitch this season or not.”
NY
Post: Howie Rose to miss rest of Mets season with medical issue.
Some of you may know that I’ve been dealing with a personal medical issue this season. In light of this I will require surgery later this week, so following Wednesday’s game I will have to put this season in the books. Looking forward to starting a new chapter next spring. ❤️
— Howie Rose (@HowieRose) August 30, 2021
We are LIVE w @ernestdove on @THEMetsianPod! Aug wrap-up edition - Along w the obvs talk re: Javy & the Thumb Brigade, we'll also hear from @BigRedRuckus while I took him to & fro @CitiField on Sunday. Join @BTB_MikeII & @Metfanrich LIVE now! https://t.co/y1Q8R6CyLu #LGM
— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) August 30, 2021
New post: Game Preview: Marlins vs Mets, Game 1 https://t.co/yr7aV0kujo
— Elliot Teichman (@213MFS) August 31, 2021
"All the fights that are breaking out in the stands. In the middle of the game, you see haymakers getting thrown"
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 30, 2021
David Wright, @RealCJ10, and @JimmyRollins11 join @YankeesWFAN to speak on the intense NL East rivalries on Like We Never Left
FULL EPISODE: https://t.co/phOzI9dhec pic.twitter.com/svnsNq6Lqy
FCL
Nationals 10 FCL Mets 0 (Box
Score) The FCL Mets get 1 hit – that one hit came from Wilmer Reyes making his first rehab start at 2B after
being out all year – 1 for 3. Manny Rodriquez also made a rehab start at SS 0 for
4, 3 Ks. Christopher
Vasquez (L, 3-1) 2/3 inning, 2 runs – both earned, 2 hits, HR, 1 K;
"I have a feeling the next time we see Khalil Lee in the majors, he's going to look a lot different than he did in his first cup of coffee"@PSLToFlushing and @Jacob_Resnick look at @lilswingman24's future on Mets Prospective!
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 30, 2021
FULL EPISODE: https://t.co/d0g1Y2E7kB
➡️ @Verizon pic.twitter.com/pK2IMZzbu5
For the complete Mets Minor League statistics click here.
Here is yesterday's MLB Scoreboard.
MLB.com:
FOX Sports:
MLB Trade Rumors:
Yahoo Sports:
ESPN:
CBS Sports:
Braves.com:
Marlins.com:
Phillies.com:
Nationals.com:
Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:
Died on this date:
Transactions:
New York Mets purchased Bill Graham from the Detroit Tigers on August 31, 1967.
New York Mets traded Jerry Grote to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dan Smith and Randy Rogers on August 31, 1977.
New York Mets traded Pete Harnisch to the Milwaukee Brewers for Donny Moore on August 31, 1997.
New York Mets sold Tim Spehr to the Kansas City Royals on August 31, 1998.
New York Mets traded Jeff Francoeur to the Texas Rangers for Joaquin Arias on August 31, 2010.
New York Mets traded Erik Manoah to the Los Angeles Angels for Fernando Salas on August 31, 2016.
New York Mets traded Ryder Ryan to the Texas Rangers for Todd Frazier on August 31, 2020.
New York Mets traded Kevin Smith to the Baltimore Orioles for Miguel Castro on August 31, 2020.
New York Mets purchased Robinson Chirinos from the Texas Rangers on August 31, 2020.
2002 | Losing their 13th consecutive game at Shea Stadium, the Mets complete the worst month at home in National League history. With the 1-0 loss to Randy Wolf and the Phillies, the Amazins' join the Seattle Pilots (August-1969) and the Tigers (September-1996) as teams that have not won a home game in a calendar month with at least ten games. |
Centerfield Maz:
Brooklyn Trolley Blogger:
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